Beyond Meat Jerky

Piece of "Beyond Meat" jerky

Front of package

Back of package

Normally, I don't write about modern food developments here, but when I saw that "Beyond Meat", a vegan meat brand, has made a "meat" jerky, I couldn't resist.  

I saw this "jerky" product in a local chain drugstore and bought a bag:  $2.00 USD for a one ounce (30 gram) serving.  Pictures of the bag and of the product inside, accompany this post, all taken by me.  The photograph of the back of the bag gives nutritional information for the product.  As always, click on the photograph to see the image in a larger size with more detail.

Beyond Meat's offering is made from mung bean and pea protein.  After tasting it, I concluded that no meat eater is going to mistake this product for a jerky made from actual meat.  For one thing, there's no muscle fiber grain in this "jerky"--it's just a compressed mass, and most pieces are irregular in shape (unlike the specimen in the photograph above).  That being said, the product imitates the salty and umami flavors of true jerky passably well.  However, it doesn't have the subtle flavors of true jerk meat, and it seems a bit saltier than meat jerky to me.  It is chewy like meat jerky--but again, the texture is homogeneous, and does not have the long fibers that meat does.

Overall, this product might satisfy a vegan, or a meat-eater desperate to find something to satisfy a late-night craving for salt and umami.  But I don't think most people will seek out this product, even though it's roughly price-competitive (Jack Link Beef Jerky sells at $5.99 per 3.25 ounce bag, according to this website).  Trying this product gave me a better understanding of the hype, as well as the slow sales, of Beyond Meat's products.